


the kids aren't alright

by acetheticallyy (jacquesdernier)



Category: Band of Brothers
Genre: Ensemble Cast, M/M, Other: See Story Notes, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-08
Updated: 2015-04-08
Packaged: 2018-03-21 19:46:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3703359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jacquesdernier/pseuds/acetheticallyy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes the person who seems like they have it all together, the person who holds everyone else in place, is the one suffering the most.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the kids aren't alright

**Author's Note:**

> a few things before we get started:
> 
> 1\. I can count the amount of times I've written canon compliant fic on less than one hand, so I apologize if this sounds weird  
>   
> 2\. Way shorter than I intended but w/e  
>   
> 3\. Title taken from Fall Out Boy's "The Kids Aren't Alright"  
>   
> 4\. Really only slash if you squint but hey I tried
> 
> and finally,  
> this is based 100% on the actors' portrayals from the tv show and is in no way intended to be disrespectful towards the real men of easy company  
>   
> [newly edited as of May 29, 2015]

Babe Heffron can think of very few things that he hates more than the freezing cold of Bastogne, the feel of ice cold earth beneath his back in a foxhole, the seemingly neverending numbness in all of his limbs, mainly his toes. He thinks that this, watching Roe break down internally while the rest of them laugh around whatever passes for that night's meal, might just be worse. He does what he can; makes sure the medic gets his own share of food, tells him where he might be able to find extra supplies...he just isn't quite sure that it's enough.

He feels a little bad, if he's being honest. All the things Roe has done for all of them the whole time they've been in that godforsaken place, and nobody thought to ask him how he was. Babe supposes it makes sense. How many people go to see their doctor for their annual checkup and go "I'm okay, doc, but how are  _you_ feeling today"? The answer is probably somewhere in the twenties,  _maybe_  in the thirties. All the same, he still feels like he should ask at least once.

So when he gets a moment, during one of those rare times when nobody is shouting in pain and nobody is bleeding, he looks around for the foxhole Gene is currently in and, once he finds it, hops in alongside him. When he sees who it is, Gene looks up at Babe with a look of concern. "Everything okay Heffron?"

Babe rolls his eyes at the refusal to use his nickname. "Yeah,  _Eugene,_ I'm alright." He takes in the scene around him, realizing nobody else is in the foxhole with them. "You're not supposed to be in one of these things alone, you know, you yourself told me that."

"Not alone anymore, am I?"

"Not the point, Gene." It goes silent for a minute, both of them watching the line, before Babe speaks again. "How are you doin'?"

Gene looks at him again, this time the expression on his face one of pure amusement. "Are you checkin' on me,  Edward?"

"Shut it, Gene, just answer the question."

Roe looked like he was about to give another smart assed answer,  but Babe leveled him with the best glare he could muster with his teeth chattering. It admittedly looked more like he was trying not to laugh rather than trying to look angry, but it seemed to work so he wasn't too inclined to worry about how it looked. "I'm fine, Heffron, don't worry about it."

Now Babe looked like he was trying not to laugh because he actually was. If Roe actually thought Babe was stupid enough to believe his flippant reply, he was sorely mistaken. Babe let a bitter scoff escape his lips before he spoke. "Bullshit. You ain't alright at all, I've seen you out there, don't lie to me."

Gene shook his head, looking ready to argue, but Babe cut him off. "No listen, alright, I've seen you mopin' around, and I get that it's hard, I really do. I get that it's hard to watch people fall to the ground and never get up. But it's not your fault, just like Julian wasn't my fault,--" He stutters a little over the kid's name, not quite believing himself when he says it wasn't his fault, but continues on anyway. "--none of this is yours.

"You can't save everyone, you know, and you're doin' a damn good job besides. You're always jumping around, from one foxhole to the next, making sure everyone is doing fine. Surprised you ain't broke down sooner. You're stronger than we give you credit for.

"So maybe it sounds stupid to worry about yourself when everyone around you is dyin' and bleedin' all over the place, but shit, Eugene, you don't gotta do it alone. Talk to someone, for Christ's sake, you think no one knows what you're dealin' with?"

It's silent again, and the only sound that can be heard is from Muck's foxhole a few yards away, where you can barely make out Luz impersonating someone while the rest of them laugh. After a while, Babe figures he should probably leave, that he probably overstepped and said a little more than he meant to.

Just as he's about to hoist himself over the edge of the foxhole, Gene says something quiet, something it takes Babe a little while to make out:

_Not supposed to make friends._

"What was that?" Babe wonders if he heard wrong, can't believe that some idiot that it would be good to tell him that the way to surviving the war was to avoid any personal relationships. If you didn't have anything to hold on to, how in the hell were you gonna be expected to make it?

"In medic training," Gene elaborates, "they tell you not to get to close. If you end up with your best friend in front of ya, all inside out, it ain't gonna be good for ya. Supposed to avoid that. Can't break down in the middle of a war, not when everyone needs you."

"Yeah, well, no offense Eugene, but you look pretty fucked up already. Maybe it's time you try a different approach, eh?"

There's a loud noise and both of them stiffen, until Muck calls out an apology. Babe rolls his eyes before turning back to Gene and nudging his shoulder. "Hey I got an idea, for ya." Roe turns his head to look at him, eyebrows raised and promoting him to continue. "You actually try and talk to some of us here once in a while and I'll tell everyone over at Battalion HQ that we aren't friends." _Bunch a goddamn morons if they think isolatin' ya is gonna help any_ , he tacks on in his head.

Gene laughs at that, just a little, but it's enough to reach his eyes, and Babe figures it's a step in the right direction. Maybe in a few days Babe would be able to get a real smile out of him, one that lit up his whole face. God knows how any of the rest of them did it, but Babe figures that Eugene deserved a little happiness every now and again, if he could manage it.


End file.
